Lehigh County composting business passes stink inspection

South Whitehall Township residents raised a stink about the stink at
Huckleberry Associates, so state officials visited the composting
business last month for an inspection.

The Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Waste Management
found no violations during the July 30 inspection, DEP spokeswoman
Colleen Connolly said.

The DEP inspection included an "odor
patrol" around the facility and in the neighboring community. Inspectors
detected a "persistent/mild/light leaf compost odor" on Herman Lane in
an area adjacent to the 4359 Huckleberry Road facility, but nowhere
else, according to the inspection report.

Inside the facility,
inspectors detected an "intermittent/moderate-strong/rotting vegetable
odor" when a delivery of food waste arrived, the report says. The odor
quickly dissipated after leaves were placed on top of the food waste,
the report says.

"During the time of this inspection no offsite
odors meeting the definition of malodor or public nuisance were
detected," the report says.

In the report, it's suggested
that Huckleberry Associates consider using "odor neutralizing misters"
or planting vegetation to serve as windbreaks and further minimize
offsite odor.

Named in the suit are FCS
Partners, which operates the facility, landowner Huckleberry Associates
and its parent company, Haimes and Kibblehouse Inc., also known as the
H&K Group, which runs a quarry on the property.

The last time
South Whitehall heard from Huckleberry Associates they were in the
midst of a quarry reclamation, zoning officer Keith Zehner has said. He
and other township officials who keep tabs on zoning issues weren't
aware composting had begun there until residents started complaining
about the smell.

FCS got a permit from the DEP in November 2012,
according to court records. They paved a meadow at the site with asphalt
and began bringing in yard waste, manure, food waste and other
biodegradable materials used in composting, the suit says.

The suit says, "The composting process
generates noxious smells and odors which affects the nearby residents’
enjoyment of their properties."